A Trump administration effort to inquire about the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia with officials in El Salvador was reportedly slapped down by the authoritarian government, according to a new report in The New York Times.
The Salvadoran government, led by President Nayib Bukele, said no in response to a diplomatic note sent by White House officials, the Times reported Wednesday. The Bukele administration reportedly claimed Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father whom U.S. officials have admitted was sent to the country in error, should remain there because he is a Salvadoran citizen, according to the publication.
Despite the development, legal experts were unconvinced that the diplomatic outreach was anything more than political posturing.
“Some legal experts suggested that the sequence of events could have been an attempt at window dressing by officials seeking to give the appearance of being in compliance with the recent Supreme Court ruling ordering the White House to “facilitate” Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release,” according to the Times report.
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It also adds to the confusion surrounding the administration’s true intentions to bring Abrego Garcia back to the country, especially after White House officials “publicly expressed unwillingness to bring him back to the United States,” the Times pointed out.
Georgetown University Law School Professor Steve Vladeck called the Supreme Court ruling a “graceful way” out of the legal situation the Trump administration created with the man’s deportation. He told the Times it could be enough to satisfy the high court’s orders, though in a limited way.
“But as usual the president is his own worst enemy in court,” Vladeck said. “When you have the president publicly saying there are things he can do but is choosing not to do, I think any federal judge or Supreme Court justice worth their salt may eventually order him to do those things. I think if the president had just kept his mouth shut, the government’s case would have been a lot stronger.”